The Basilisk Chronicles
by thesociallyawkwardtwins
Summary: Three boring Saturdays at Hogwarts leave Harry Potter and his friends with nothing to do, and Harry gets so desperate for something to occupy his time that he ends up going down into the Chamber of Secrets. Little does he know, his crazy schemes are going to cause lots of problems, lazy Saturday after lazy Saturday. (Occurs during the Trio's third year)
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: So this is my first adventure into the fanfiction world of Harry Potter, which is really exciting! This is all based off of a comic strip that I wrote and drew a couple years ago for fun (the cover image is a drawing from the comic, if that gives you any idea of my drawing ability), and it was pretty much a blast to turn into a story. That said, there will be more to follow ;)_

_So please enjoy this slightly insane tale of Harry and a Basilisk named Basilisky!_

* * *

_PART ONE: BASILISKY _

_Harry:_

I'm walking down an abandoned hallway on a normal day at Hogwarts just minding my own business. There's nothing particularly exciting happening on this average Saturday. In fact, I'm a tad bit bored.

I wander into a vaguely familiar hallway with only the sounds of my feet hitting the stone floor for company, and then my eyes land on a large puddle of water. There's a sign floating in front of the mess that says, "Out of Order." That sort of triggers my mind into remembering where I am.

Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

I haven't been here since second year when we brewed that Polyjuice Potion to spy on Draco. I haven't even been in this relative area since then. And, for some reason, I feel the need to go inside.

I splash through the deep puddle of water and push into the bathroom. A couple feet in front of me, every single tap at every single sink is gushing enormous amounts of water. To either side of me, all the toilets are overflowing as well. No wonder the water is nearly up to my knees.

"Myrtle?" I call out. Distantly, I can hear her plaintive sobbing. "Myrtle, where are you? What's wrong? You've flooded the hallway!"

She doesn't respond or fly out to take out her pain on me. Instead, she just keeps on crying wherever she's hidden.

Sighing, I hike my robes up and wade into the bathroom. Nearest to the sinks, the water comes to just above my knees, and my feet are completely numb from the cold. I reach out and start closing all the taps, but it doesn't help much since the toilets are also overflowing. If Hermione was here with me, she'd know what to do to make them all stop…

I make my way down all the sinks until I reach the last one. When I get there, all these memories come flooding back in just like the water emptying itself onto my pants right now. I run my finger along the neck of the tap, and I feel the snake that curls along its length.

The Chamber of Secrets.

Almost unconsciously, I start talking in Parseltongue, and the sink lowers itself into the ground until a giant hole opens up. Immediately, all the standing water in the bathroom starts rushing like a waterfall into the gaping hole, and the force almost sucks me in. I back up quickly and hold onto one of the other sinks until all the water has disappeared into the Chamber and I'm left with only the amount of water that my sopping wet cloak can hold onto.

I stand there for a second, shivering because of my wet feet, and watch as the toilets continue their gushing. So maybe emptying all the water into the Chamber was pointless since I can't stop the toilets, but considering I have nothing better to be doing this afternoon, I don't care.

Well, maybe the trip wasn't entirely wasted…

I look down into the giant hole and shrug. This may cure my boredom.

* * *

_Hermione:_

"Ron, where on earth do you think Harry is?" I ask.

Ron shrugs from his position on the couch. He takes another bite of chocolate frog and looks over at me. "I dunno, Hermione," he says thickly. "I reckon he'll turn up eventually."

I slam my book shut, and the noise echoes around the empty common room. Everyone else is outside or in the library or up in the dormitories. "But you haven't seen him all day!" I say forcefully. "Aren't you even the slightest bit concerned as to where he is?"

"'Course I am," he says, rolling his eyes. "But this happens a lot, don't you think? Harry disappears more often than anyone else I know."

"But he's never anywhere good!" I say, trying to get the danger of this situation to permeate Ron's thick skull.

Finally Ron sits up. "Hermione, stop worrying. We don't have any homework to do. He's probably gone to visit Hagrid or something."

"Well, he would have told us, wouldn't he have?" I ask, grasping at straws.

Ron gives an overly dramatic sigh and finishes his chocolate frog. He's about to retort something to me, but the portrait whole opens, and someone clambers inside.

Fortunately, it's Harry. Unfortunately, he's soaking wet.

"Harry, where have you been?!" I shout before he's even in the room.

However, he doesn't respond. He just stares out the portrait hole and motions for the person on the other side to come in. "Come on," he says in a pleading voice, like he's talking to a child. "Come on! There's no one in here. Just my friends!"

"Harry, who are you talking to?" Ron asks.

Whoever's outside finally relents because Harry backs up… and a massive, full-on Basilisk slithers in.

"Bloody hell, Harry, what are you doing?!" Ron shouts at the top of his lungs.

Ron and I both look firmly at the ground, but the solitary fact that I know there is a Basilisk across the room from me is enough to make me panic. Ron looks white-faced and terrified too, but when Harry responds, he doesn't seem too worried.

"I went back down in the Chamber, and I found her still living down there," Harry says calmly. "I guess I didn't really kill her last time. Weird, huh?"

I'm hung up on other matters. "_Her?" _I ask, aghast. I simply cannot fathom how Harry is being so nice to a creature that nearly killed him and could kill someone else with one look.

"Yeah, she came after me at first, but I defeated her again," Harry says. "It wasn't easy, but I won her over with my Parseltongue."

"Harry," Ron says loudly, but he trails off, unable to adequately put his feelings to words. I must say, I'm feeling the same exact way. "You're mad."

"I'm not _mad," _Harry says vehemently. "Basilisky is afraid of the Chamber of Secrets, and she's lonely. I had to bring her out with me."

"You _named _her?!" I ask loudly. It's almost enough for me to look up, but I force my eyes back to the dusty floor of the common room.

"Of course I did," Harry says. "She's my pet."

"No she is not!" Ron says loudly. "She's a bloody mon—"

"Shut up, Ron!" Harry shouts. "Don't listen to him, Basilisky!"

There's a sound of him moving around and then a quiet hop. I hear the Basilisk move slightly across the carpet, its scales rubbing against the furniture.

That's when it hits me. "Harry… are you _riding _the Basilisk?" I ask in shock. "_How _are you riding the Basilisk?"

"Well—" Harry is cut off by the portrait hole opening.

I prepare immediately for the unlucky Gryffindor to fall dead on the carpet or run out of the common room screaming bloody murder, but none of that happens. In fact, at first, the intruder doesn't even notice the giant monster at first.

Dumbledore's voice sounds weary as he walks in. "Harry, I received a complaint from Professor Snape about your performance in Potions, and I was down on this end of the castle, so I thought we'd clear it up right away."

That, I assume, is when he looks up and sees the Basilisk.

"What is going on here?" Dumbledore asks, his voice turning hard. "Why in Merlin's name is there a Basilisk in the Gryffindor common room?"

I can hear Harry swallow from all the way over here. "Well, sir—"

"And more importantly, why are you riding it?"

I'd imagine that Harry's shoulders have slumped by now. "Well, you see, she's sort of my pet now…"

"This Basilisk is not your pet, Harry!" Dumbledore says loudly. "One look into a Basilisk's eye can kill you! Do you understand how dangerous this is?!"

Harry's voice comes out wounded. "I understand that, but, sir, what if—"

"I suggest you return this Basilisk to the Chamber of Secrets immediately or I will have to expel you!" Dumbledore commands. I find myself suddenly a bit frightened because Dumbledore never gets this angry about anything, but I'd imagine he's thinking about what happened last year. I don't think any of us (expect possibly Harry) want any more students to get petrified or, worse, _killed_ by a Basilisk.

I hear Harry jump off the giant snake. "But, Professor Dumbledore… She doesn't like it down there. It scares her."

"And how do you know this?" Dumbledore asks, anger showing in his voice.

"She talks to me in Parseltongue," Harry concludes weakly.

"Take the Basilisk down to the Chamber of Secrets immediately," Dumbledore commands. There's no question in his voice.

"Of course, sir," Harry relents. He only hesitates a moment before leading the Basilisk through the portrait hole.

Still, I'm afraid to look up even after I hear the Fat Lady close behind Harry and the monster. Ron and I both continue to look at the floor, our hearts pounding in our chests.

"It's safe to look up, you two," Dumbledore says, the normal lightness returning to his voice.

Tentatively, I look up. Sure enough, there's not even a single sign that the Basilisk was ever in this room. I let out a huff of breath and lean back in my chair.

Dumbledore shakes his head. "It's not every day that something like this happens at Hogwarts…" He looks over and me and Ron. "No other students saw that, correct? There aren't any Pertrified Gryffindors behind the couches, are there?"

"No, sir," I reply. "It was just us."

"Very well," he replies. "I'm glad you two weren't harmed… Just make sure that Harry does, in fact, return the Basilisk to the Chamber of Secrets, and he isn't just trying to pull the wool over my very susceptible eyes."

"Of course, sir," Ron says. "I want that bloody beast hanging around as much as you do."

Dumbledore smiles good-naturedly and leaves with a nod.

As soon as he's out the door, Ron puts his head down in his hands. "_Blimey_… a Basilisk in the common room…"

I snatch my book off the table in front of me. "I told you he never goes anywhere good when he disappears."

Ron doesn't respond.

* * *

_Harry:_

Basilisky and I take a route of deserted hallways so that we don't run into anyone else while trying to get back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. We don't talk, so the only sound is my feet hitting the stone floors.

I give a long sigh. I can't believe that both of my friends and Dumbledore were all against me having Basilisky. I mean, if they'd just let me explain, I could describe to them all the ways we could cover her eyes. I could get her sunglasses. She could wear cloth over her eyes. See, there are a million options, but they wouldn't listen…

I should have taken her down to Hagrid's. He would have appreciated her.

Eventually we reach Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and there's already a sizable amount of water coming out from under the door. Basilisky and I wade into the puddle, and I hold the door open for my companion. She thanks me in Parseltongue, but I can tell she's quite sad that this didn't work.

"Sorry that no one will let you stay above ground," I say, patting her massive head.

She nods her head as if to say she was expecting it. "_It's alright… You'll visit me, though, won't you?"_

"Of course," I promise. It's always fun to have a friend that you can have conversations with in languages that no one else can understand.

I give Basilisky's head one more pat, and we make our way over to the farthest sink where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets lies. I open it with my Parseltongue, and the gaping hole appears. Basilisky gives me a solemn nod and the slips away.

Just before her tail disappears, I say goodbye one more time. For some reason, I feel really emotional as I watch her slither away. I feel as though I've just lost a very special friend.

I sniff a couple of times and promise myself that I won't get worked up over this… That's when I become consciously aware that my shoes are once again completely filled with water. And that just makes everything even worse.

I start to romp back to the door, but Moaning Myrtle finally makes her appearance.

She swoops up right in front of me and says, "If you need someone to comfort you, my stall's always open." She wiggles her eyebrows and lets out a strangely high-pitched giggle.

I swallow awkwardly. "No thanks."

I've never been more excited to get out of that bathroom before.

* * *

_A/N: So... Sorry that Harry and Dumbledore were kind of out of character. I just had way too much fun with this. What did you think?_


	2. Chapter 2

A/_N: Thanks so much for all of you who read the first chapter! I was really quite surprised at the amount of people who viewed it! _

_Now, this chapter takes a bit of a turn for the weird. You have been warned. ;) Also, part of this is all under the assumption that the Hogwarts students get some kind of a holiday around Easter time. Not sure why I felt the need to add that little complication, but it seemed to fit, so..._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

_PART TWO: THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS_

_Harry:_

It's another average Saturday at Hogwarts, and we still don't have anything to do. Normally, I'd never ask for more homework right before a holiday, but then, at least, we'd have something to occupy our time. Right now, Hermione and I are walking down an empty hallway, having just finished our breakfast.

Hermione opens her mouth, probably to suggest doing something boring for the rest of the day, but we hear someone running down the hall behind us. We both turn to see Ron sprinting up the hall towards us with a letter clutched in his hands.

"Hey, have you guys seen Ginny?" he asks, slightly out of breath.

"I don't think so," Hermione replies. "At least, she wasn't at breakfast with us. She's probably out on the grounds with everyone else."

"Oh," Ron says. He holds up the letter. "Mum just wrote and said that we have to come home for the holiday because Charlie's going to be home from Romania. I just need to make sure Ginny knows so that she can be packed by Monday."

"I'm sure we'll find her later today, and you can tell her then," Hermione says

Ron nods. "Where are you guys headed?" he asks, stuffing the letter into his pocket.

Suddenly, an idea occurs to me. I remember back to that other boring Saturday that we had a couple months ago, and it reminds me that I haven't visited Basilisky lately. It's probably been a couple weeks.

"We should go to the Chamber of Secrets to visit Basilisky," I say. "She's probably starving for attention."

"Or our souls," Ron says under his breath to Hermione, but I can still hear him. I pretend that I didn't, though, for Basilisky's sake.

Hermione sighs and rolls her eyes at Ron. "I suppose that would be nice, Harry," she says. "As long as you promise we won't get killed."

"Basilisky is a good girl. She won't look at you at all, I promise."

"Alright," Ron relents. "_Bloody hell, _I don't fancy dying two days before the holiday…"

"Ron, just be quiet."

* * *

Thankfully, when we reach Moaning Myrtle's bathroom this time, the hallway isn't flooded. It just looks like a normal, fully-functioning bathroom. I lead the way to the door and hold it open for my companions.

They take two steps into the room, and then they both stop short at the same time. A faint gasp escapes Hermione's lips, and I fear the worst.

"What is it?" I ask, pushing past them.

That's when I come face to face with a repeated nightmare. I have horrid flashbacks to last year when Tom Riddle set Basilisky loose on the castle to try to kill all the Muggleborns. And it would appear that it's happening again.

Written in blood on the mirrors above the sinks is another cryptic message: _HER BONES SHALL LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOREVER… THIS TIME_

"This can't be happening again!" is the first thing that burst from my mouth.

"Whose bones?" Hermione asks in a high voice.

I think that answer pops into all of our heads, but none of us are brave enough to say it out loud.

_Ginny. _

I don't even stop to think at all before I sprint to the last sink and open the Chamber of Secrets with hurried Parseltongue. I glance once over my shoulder to see if Ron and Hermione and following me, and, sure enough, they're both hovering by my shoulder. I jump down into the Chamber without hesitance.

* * *

Getting in the Chamber itself is second nature from all the times that I've come down here to visit Basilisky, but the journey has a new, terrified tone to it. For some unsettling reason, it feels different down here. Much more imposing than it ever has before.

I lead the way into the inner sanctum, which means I'm the first to see Ginny. My mind is once again filled with images from last year. Ginny looks almost exactly as she did when I last found her lying down here in the Chamber. Her skin is white as snow, her eyes are closed as though dead, and she's crumpled in a heap.

"No, Ginny!" Ron shouts desperately, and it echoes around the Chamber.

I sprint straight over to her, shouting for Basilisky as I run. "Basilisky, you have to come help us! Basilisky, where are you?!"

I drop down on my knees at Ginny's side, and she looks even more dead than she did from across the room. Frantically, I drop my wand onto the stone ground and feel for a pulse. Luckily, her heart still beats, and I can see her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths.

"Ginny?" I ask, shaking her shoulders. She doesn't stir even a bit. Desperately, I shout for Basilisky again, but she still doesn't come. Is she mad at me for not coming to visit her more frequently?

I am about to desperately look over my shoulder to see if Ron and Hermione have any ideas, but their collective shout of "_HARRY_!" draws my attention further back in the Chamber.

Two unfamiliar Basilisks are curling around them like boa constrictors, pinning them in place. They both seem to be struggling to get out of the snake coils, but I know that the Basilisks are strong.

"Oh my god!" I shout as something terrible occurs to me. "There are more Basilisks than just Basilisky?!"

As if in response, another Basilisk slithers out from a hole in the stone wall down by Ron and Hermione. Hermione lets out a loud shriek, and they both shut their eyes tight to avoid getting killed or Petrified. The third Basilisk stops itself between me and my two friends as if trying to create another barrier.

In a panic, I whip around to grab my wand, but it's no longer lying on the ground next to Ginny's crumpled body— a pair of feet has replaced it. My heart nearly stops beating right then and there as another figment of my nightmares revisits.

Tom Marvolo Riddle stands above me, smiling with his normal casual elegance, and his fingers stroke my own wand. "Harry Potter, we meet again," he says.

"I thought I killed you already," I blurt, jumping to my feet. I manage to stumble backwards a couple steps before Riddle responds.

An evil smile crosses his face. "You _thought_ you did."

From down at the end of the Chamber, Hermione lets out a strangled shriek. I glance back at her for a second to see that the Basilisk's tail now covers her mouth to keep her silent… or to strangle her.

Tom Riddle walks around Ginny's body and comes towards me creepily. "Did you really think that I would have left one, single diary to preserve my memory? Did you really think that I hadn't made other provisions in case idiotic, meddlesome people like you came along?"

I stutter, but no words come out.

"If you did, you'd be wrong," Riddle says slowly. He strokes my wand again. "Your dear Ginny Weasley happened upon another mysterious diary while in the library last night."

"_No," _I breathe. I can't believe she would start writing in another odd diary after what happened last time…

"Except, this time I didn't want to wait around for her to trust me," he says. "As she started to flip through the pages of this second diary, it exploded silently in her face, and I was able to get your dear Basilisk to bring her down here into the Chamber of Secrets."

I let out a gasp without meaning to. _Basilisky helped Tom Riddle? _A wave of betrayal comes over me in an instant, and Riddle takes notice. It must make him feel more powerful.

"Little did you know, as you continued to be friends with said Basilisk, I was working on a little _project _down here, raising more Basilisks," Riddle says.

"Oh no…" I whisper.

"Oh, _yes," _Riddle says, smiling creepily. "Now, with dear Ginny as my life source and all these Basilisks under my control, I'm afraid you have no chance this time, Potter."

My heart starts to pound harder, and my eyes dart around for possible escapes, but Riddle basically has me cornered.

"Attack," Riddle says, smiling at my nearing death.

All of the sudden, a Basilisk slithers around Tom Riddle's side and comes towards me. I hit the corner of the Chamber, and there are no holes for me to possibly escape through. I'm completely trapped.

The Basilisk gets within ten feet of me, and it's all I can do to look away before I get killed instantly. I swallow back all my fear, not wanting to die a coward's death, and pray for a chance to survive. The Basilisk's head gets within five inches of mine, and I can feel its imposing presence closing in on me.

I expect death in an instant, but, instead, I hear something. Just a quite whisper.

"_I won't hurt you… I won't let him kill you."_

I would recognize that Paseltongue anywhere. The Basilisk that Tom sent to kill me is none other than my dear Basilisky. In a small part of myself, I'm furious with her for siding with Riddle, even if it was for only a short time, but there's always a chance that she didn't do anything willingly.

"Kill him!" Riddle yells from the other side of the Basilisky.

In a flash of a second, Basilisky's head strikes down, and her fangs catch on my robes. She rears up and snaps her head back, effectively chucking me straight over her body to Tom Riddle's feet. I feel betrayed and angry and irate as I fly through the air.

_I can't believe that Basilisky would turn on me like this. _

That's my last thought before my head smashes into the ground.

* * *

My consciousness returns after what only seems like moments, but my head hurts far too much to open my eyes. Around me, the Chamber appears to be in complete silence.

I attempt to move my arm to make sure that my head injury hasn't caused too much damage to myself, and, thankfully, my hand moves like normal. My fingers brush over the fabric of my robes and then hit something solid and smooth. At first, I think it's just the stone ground that I'm lying on, but then I realize what it is.

A Basilisk fang.

Suddenly, Basilisky's actions make sense. She threw me back towards Riddle because she knew that if she got one of the fangs stuck in my robes, I would be given the only possible weapon that can be used to destroy this figment of Tom Riddle.

Through squinted, barely opened eyes, I look above me. Sure enough, Riddle is crouched by my head, smiling down at me with evil conviction.

"Finally, I've won!" he says loudly. "Lord Voldemort could never be defeated by a small, ignorant boy such as Harry Potter. He will fall, at long last, at the feet of his superior!"

My hand closes imperceptibly around the Basilisk fang caught in my robes.

"Prepare to die, Harry Potter," Riddle says.

I have no idea how he intends to kill me, but I drive the Basilisk fang backwards over my head blindly, and it connects with a solid form.

Tom Riddle lets out a loud, agonized scream, but I don't look back. I jump to my feet and start sprinting in some random direction. My head injury has obviously done something to my vision because everything seems dark around the edges.

My balance seems off, too. It's hard for me to run straight, and I find myself weaving erratically. Objects and people and Basilisks around me come in and out of focus. I see Basilisky. Ginny. Another Basilisk.

Then, a stone snake tail protruding from the wall of the Chamber appears out of nowhere at eyelevel, and my face smashes into it.

I black out once again.

* * *

_Hermione:_

As soon as both Harry and Tom Riddle are down for the count, the Basilisk's lose their allegiance, and they just let me and Ron down like nothing happened. We both hand hard on our knees, gasping for breath, both from panic and the near-strangulation.

"Hermione, _bloody hell, _what are we supposed to do now?" Ron asks in a breathy voice.

All the Basilisks except Harry's pet slither off into holes in the walls, leaving us completely alone. Since I know we're safe on that account, I take a moment to look around. At the far end of the Chamber, Tom Riddle's memory is lying dead with a Basilisk fang sticking out of his face. A little bit away from him, Ginny's also lying unconscious, but she has a bit more color now than when we first saw her.

Then there's Harry, lying in a crumpled heap by the wall. His pet Basilisk is nudging him with her head, trying to rouse him, but it isn't working.

"We need to get Ginny and Harry to the hospital wing, for one thing," I say.

"But how?" Ron asks. "The last time Harry and I were down here, Fawkes the phoenix had to fly us out."

I struggle to my feet. "Well, how has Harry been getting out of here all those times that he's visited his pet?"

"I don't know," Ron says roughly.

I pause. "Do you think that Basilisky could take us up?" I ask. "Maybe she can slither up walls… It wouldn't surprise me."

Ron looks a little uneasy. "If you want to ask the giant, deadly snake for help, then by all means, ask it to take us out of the Chamber."

"Oh, shut up, Ronald!" I bark, even though the idea of approaching a Basilisk for assistance does make me shiver a little. "You saw how careful she was when she was going at Harry. She shut her eyes, even."

"Yeah, yeah," Ron says. "Let's just go see if Ginny and Harry are okay."

We both start jogging down the Chamber towards our two unconscious friends. Ron veers off towards Ginny, so I decide I may as well ask the Basilisk for help. I walk up towards her side, trying to see as passive and unthreatening as possible.

"Excuse me?" I say awkwardly. What am I thinking? Basilisks don't speak English… but they can hear very well.

I pick up a stray stone by my feet and drop it.

The Basilisk immediately turns its head towards me. I drop my gaze to the floor in a panic, but the giant snake doesn't make any move to attack me.

"Can you take us back up to the castle?" I ask loudly, using motions to show Basilisky what I mean. I point at Harry. I point at her back. I point up.

And, I swear to you, the Basilisk nods when I'm finished.

Ron wanders over to my side, levitating Ginny's body and looking concernedly at the ground. "Ginny's still got a pulse, and I went ahead and got Harry's wand back." He holds out the spare wand and then pockets it.

"Good thinking, Ron," I say. "And I'm pretty sure the Basilisk just agreed to take us up to the castle."

"Oh, bloody _hell._"

* * *

Somehow, I'm not sure how exactly, we get Ginny and Harry out of the Chamber of Secrets and into the hospital wing within the hour. The rest of the day is spent in a mass panic as Professor Dumbledore and all the other teachers try to figure what happened. Ron and I do our best to describe the event, but it sounds incredibly strange coming out of our mouths.

Mostly, the teachers are astounded that a Basilisk would help save Harry.

Except Hagrid. He's very excited that Harry has found a pet.

* * *

_Harry:_

My eyes flicker open, and I'm no longer in the Chamber of Secrets. That scares me at first, but I decide that it must be a good thing… As long as this isn't heaven.

The light pouring into my eyes is blinding for a couple seconds, and I start to get concerned that it's the light of God, but then Hermione's face comes into focus, and I recognize the rest of the room as the hospital wing.

"Harry!" Hermione says excitedly. "Oh thank god, you're alright!"

"What happened?" I ask groggily.

Hermione's eyes grow concerned. "You ran into a stone snake tail coming out of the wall."

I sigh. "I know _that. _I meant, what happened _after_ that?"

"Oh, after the Basilisks saw that you and Tom Riddle were both down, they sort of just let me and Ron go. Somehow, we got Basilisky to agree to carry us out of the Chamber. We got you and Ginny up here to the hospital wing immediately."

"How _is _Ginny?" I ask hurriedly.

"Oh, she's alright now," I say. "She and Ron left for the Burrow yesterday for their holiday. I'm sure Ginny's still a little freaked out since this all happened again…"

"Yeah," I reply. I totally understand. "I guess none of us will ever pick up any mysterious books ever again."

Hermione cracks a little smile. "I guess not," she chuckles.

* * *

Madame Pompfrey lets me go after she does a final check on me, and Hermione and I wander down to the Great Hall to get something to eat, since I haven't eaten anything in the couple days I've been unconscious.

"You know, Harry, I'm sorry for how I treated Basilisky at first," Hermione says to me as we walk. "She really does care about you, and she pretty much saved the day."

I smile. It feels good to know that finally someone cares for Basilisky besides me. Everyone's so prejudiced against Basilisks, but they're actually really loyal and protective. I'm glad Hermione can see that now.

"Maybe after you eat we should go down to the Chamber and thank her properly," Hermione suggests.

"That sounds awesome," I reply.

* * *

_A/N: So, what did you think of this chapter?_


	3. Chapter 3

_PART THREE: BASILISK IN MY POCKET_

_Harry:_

A month or two after my second run-in with Tom Riddle, we have yet another boring Saturday. It's the awkward stretch of time during school when it's almost the end of the year, but no one is feeling quite motivated enough to start studying for our exams.

Thankfully, I don't have to ponder how I'm going to spend my afternoon for very long. I've finally got it figured out where my instantaneous reaction to most lulls is to go down to the Chamber of Secrets to visit Basilisky.

Ever since she saved my life, I've visited her much more often, but I still don't see her as much as I'd like. It's really a shame that even after Hermione, Ron and I all described how she willingly did everything in her power to save me and Ginny, Dumbledore still won't allow me to walk her around occasionally like a normal pet.

If only there was another way to bring her around with me…

I jump abruptly off the common room couch as an insane yet brilliant idea strikes me like lightning. Hermione and Ron both give a start and look up at me, probably expecting to see a fire or something.

"What's got you all excited?" Ron asks.

"I'm going down to the Chamber of Secrets to visit Basilisky," I say quickly. I'm already bobbing towards the portrait hole. "You guys wanna come?"

Hermione's eyebrows crinkle together, and it's like she can read my mind. "I _would_, but you're acting awfully suspicious. Why else have you got planned?"

I sigh. "I was thinking that if I shrunk Basilisky down to pocket-size, I could carry her around like Ron carries Scabbers."

Ron sits up really fast and looks at me like I've just suggested we actually pay attention in History of Magic. "That's _mad_, Harry!"

"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" Hermione says loudly, slamming her book shut. "Please don't—"

"That's not going to stop me from doing it," I say, drowning out whatever Hermione was saying.

Before anything else can be said, I slip out the portrait hole and dash down the corridor.

* * *

A couple minutes later, I'm dashing into the inner sanctum of the Chamber of Secrets. Since Basilisky has such acute hearing, she probably heard me coming all the way from the bottom of the chute because she's waiting patiently for me when I arrive.

"Hey, Basilisky!" I say excitedly.

As soon as she hears my Parseltongue, she shuts her eyes and turns her massive head towards me. A look of delight curves her serpentine mouth. "_Hey, Harry!" _she says happily.

Basilisky lowers her head so that I can give it a couple pats.

"I thought of the greatest idea while I was in the common room!" I say enthusiastically. "It's about being able to keep you above ground as my real pet!"

"_Really?!" _she asks happily. Her eyes are still clamped shut, but I'm sure she looks really, super ecstatic. "_What ideas have you come up with?"_

"I thought I could shrink you down really small, and then you can ride around in my pocket!" I say. "Then, there's less of a chance that people will look into your eyes, and I can even shrink down a pair of sunglasses to put on you!"

"_That sounds marvelous!" _Basilisky says, her tail wagging like a dog's. "_Have you approved the idea with the Headmaster?" _

"No," I shrug. "But I figure he doesn't have to know." Before she can put up a fight, I draw my wand and point it at her. "_Reducio."_

Before my very eyes, my large Basilisky shrinks down to the size of my palm. Now, instead of being a massive "monster", she looks more like a tiny worm. I wrench the pair of sunglasses out of my bag and shrink them down too.

"Now, you can wear these so that we don't have any accidents," I say, gently setting the newly shrunken sunglasses down on Basilisky's face.

I smile at my cleverness, stick Basilisky in my pocket, and head back towards the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. I have this great feeling that nothing could possibly go badly about this plan, but this is another lazy Saturday, so, of course, something has to go horribly wrong.

* * *

_Hermione: _

I slam my book shut and toss it into the table in front of me. "What do you think is taking Harry so long?" I ask Ron.

Ron barely glances up from the game of Wizard's Chess that he's playing with Seamus. He shrugs. "I dunno, Hermione," he says, annoyed that I distracted him. "He's only been gone for, like, ten minutes."

"For your information, he's been gone for thirty," I reply sharply. After all the bad and strange things that have happened to Harry associated with going down into the Chamber of Secrets, I can't help but worry.

"Well, I don't think shrinking a Basilisk down to pocket size is a very quick task," Ron replies. Seamus and Dean both give us a strange look, but we don't offer an explanation.

"Oh, come off it, Ron!" I say loudly. "You can't seriously think that he's safe! This is Harry we're talking about! I can't believe we even let him go down there to shrink the Basilisk in the first place!"

Ron finally looks away from the chess board. He leans back against the couch and looks at me with a frustrated expression. "Maybe he's had a change of heart," he says tiredly. "Maybe, for once, Harry has used his common sense, and he's decided that shrinking down a Basilisk is actually a really mad idea."

However, the odds of Ron being correct about that are slim to none, so I jump to a standing position. "I'm going after him, and I'm going to get it through his thick skull that his Basilisk needs to stay where no one will accidentally look at her," I say. "If we're not back by the end of the hour, we're in significant danger or we've already died."

"Alright, Hermione!" Ron says. He's already playing the chess game again. "I'll keep an eye on the clock."

* * *

_Harry:_

About halfway back to the Gryffindor common room, I run into Draco, who appears to be sneaking around. If that wasn't suspicious enough, I notice that he's by himself, which seems really out of character for him.

"Hey, Malfoy!" I shout. "What are you doing, sneaking around like that?"

I startle him, and he whirls around to face me. He covers up his fright quickly enough and completely ignores my question. "Well, hello, Potter," he says. "You're looking ugly as ever."

I start trying to come up with something witty to respond with, but then I realize that I don't have to put up with Malfoy's crap anymore. I have a Basilisk for a pet, and if that's not a good enough reason to leave me alone, I don't know what is.

I plunge my hand into my pocket and pull out Basilisky, setting her gently on my palm. I am literally about to just _tell _him that this little worm is a Basilisk, but his eyes connect with the sunglasses before I can get a word out.

"NO!" I shout, but Draco has already fallen sideways, stiff, rock-hard, and Petrified. "Oh no," I hiss

Distantly, I hear Basilisky start squeaking to me in Parseltongue, but I stuff her in my pocket. I kneel down by Draco's side, and I know that there's nothing that can be done now. His face is frozen in that moment of complete confusion and shock.

I instantly start trying to come up with an alibi, but there aren't many ways that a student can get Petrified, and I know I'll be the first person they come looking for…

That's when I hear feet padding down the hallway towards me. I start to panic, but the person is upon me within seconds. I expect a teacher or Professor Dumbledore, but the screech that I hear isn't coming from any of them.

"Harry, oh my god!" Hermione shrieks. She's leaning against the wall for support, clutching a hand over her mouth.

"It's not what it looks like!" I quickly shout, jumping into a standing position.

"Really, Harry, because I think it's exactly what it looks like!" she says in a high, squeaky voice.

"Well, he's not dead, if that's what you're thinking," I grumble.

"Oh, that's a great comfort," Hermione retorts, her shock melting into anger.

"Well—"

"What on _earth _were you thinking, Harry?" she asks loudly. "I told you this was a stupid idea!"

"I didn't mean to Petrify him!" I shout back, bristling with anger. I hate it when she tries to outsmart me in every situation. "I only meant to scare him!"

"And that worked out _so well_," Hermione hisses.

I cross my arms over my chest. "I personally think he looks rather scared."

Hermione's mouth opens in complete shock and disgust, but before she can berate me for that comment, another person turns the corner. This time, however, I'm not so lucky on who chose to show up. It's McGonagall.

Her gasp echoes around the small hallway, and she clutches at her chest. Her face drains of any color, and she actually stumbles back a couple steps. Then, her gaze lifts up to me and Hermione. Hermione's jaw is basically still on the floor, and I think she's near tears now that she's under suspicion.

"Explain yourselves," McGonagall rasps out.

For some reason, I blurt, "He's not dead."

That seems to relieve McGonagall just a little, but she still looks dangerously pale. "Then— then what has happened here?" The normal edge is returning to her voice.

"Well…" I trail off, swallowing up my pride. I'm going to have to confess. "It was… it was a Basilisk."

McGonagall's color drops so much that she now looks like a ghost. "A _what?!" _

I immediately feel bad for blaming Basilisky for this whole thing. She didn't even mean to Petrify Draco at all. It's pretty much my fault entirely. I shrunk her. I brought her up here. I pulled her out of my pocket. I showed her to Draco.

Basilisky's not at fault in the slightest.

I let out a deep sigh. "It's really my fault, professor," I say, staring at the ground. "You know I've grown attached to one of the Basilisks that saved my life down in the Chamber of Secrets, and I just thought I'd like to shrink her down to pocket-size and carry her around with me all day. It was a totally innocent idea, but Draco accidentally made eye contact with her, and…"

I trail off miserably, and McGonagall looks like she's just been Petrified herself. She looks totally stunned. Several times, her mouth opens like she wants to say something but closes when she can't think of anything to say.

"It was stupid, I know," I say quietly, feeling dumber than I've ever felt in my life. The shame starts to creep to my stomach, and I feel like I'm going to throw up.

"_Stupid?" _McGonagall shrills at the top of her lungs. "This is far beyond _stupid. _This is… This is absolutely moronic! You'd think that you don't even have a functioning brain in your head, Potter!"

I wince and look down at the floor. "I'm sorry," I squeak but hardly any noise comes out.

"We will get Mr. Malfoy down to the hospital wing, and I will decide what to do with you when we get there," McGonagall fairly growls. "I can't even think straight right now. I have half a mind to expel your right this instant!"

That hits me hard in the chest. I didn't think this would get me kicked out. I just wanted to have my cool pet with me for a Saturday. What sounds bad about that?

"Miss Granger!" McGonagall snaps loudly. Hermione lets out a squeak. "What are you doing here?"

Hermione looks near tears, so I answer for her. "She came after me to tell me not to shrink my Basilisk," I reply quickly. "It was too late when she showed up."

"Well, you'll have to come along anyway, Miss Granger, since you've seen everything," McGonagall says. "You'll be a witness."

Hermione looks like she'd rather die than be involved in this, but she nods because she's respectful and terrified.

"Now, come along!" McGonagall barks. She whips out her wand and levitates Draco's stiff body in the hospital wing's direction.

Hermione and I follow without question. I feel my heart sink into my stomach as I start to think more about my awful crime. I never meant to Petrify Draco at all! I just wanted to scare him into leaving me alone! Now, this has all spiraled out of control, and I'm going to get expelled!

I lean over to Hermione and whisper, "Oh, god, I'm _so _dead!"

Hermione's eyes flash with a mix of anger and terror. "Like Draco very well could have been if your _pet _didn't have glasses on!"

I flinch. I guess she has every right to be angry at me, but I just kind of expected her to be on my side at least a little.

"I think you deserve severe punishment, Harry," she says honestly. It pains her to say it, but I know she means it. "What you've done is completely out of line."

I deflate, and we walk in complete silence for the rest of the way to the hospital wing.

* * *

_A/N: So what do you guys think? I know this story is totally crazy, but I'm having fun with it! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing the past few chapters. Also, I totally didn't proofread this chapter at all, so if there are some horrific errors, please let me know. That would be so embarrassing. As always, tell me your thoughts! I appreciate your comments ;)_


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